Sabah Wildlife rescues elephant with oral abscess caused by brooch

By Olivia Miwil - May 22, 2020 @ 6:54pm

LAHAD DATU: An elephant wandering alone in a forest corridor in Tingkayu was in fact suffering with an abscess in its oral cavity caused by a brooch which was stuck.

Sabah Wildlife department assistant director Dr Sen Nathan, in his Facebook posting, said they were alerted about the presence of the elephant on Tuesday.

"A team headed by our Wildlife Rescue Unit veterinarian Dr Navaneetha Roopan left Sepilok early Wednesday morning as the journey to the area takes more than four hours.

"When they arrived in the area they immediately found the poor elephant," he said, adding the 1.5-metre tall sub-adult bull elephant was darted, removed and treated around 11am.

Upon examination, the team found a large abscess had caused swelling to the elephant's left cheek.

A brooch that had been stuck in the teeth had caused severe ulceration of its tongue, and the brooch was removed.

The abscess was lanced and topical antibiotics were appliedand the pus in the oral cavity was rinsed out.

"Only God and the poor elephant know how that brooch ended up getting stuck in the poor elephant's mouth cavity.

"Due to the severity of dental infection, the elephant will be taken to the Borneo Elephant Sanctuary for further medical care," he said, adding they were optimistic about his recovery. He would be released back into the wild once it gets better.

Dr Sen also thanked the Malaysian Palm Oil Council and Orangutan Appeal UK for funding the rescue operation.

"Without their generosity, it would be impossible for us to do our part in saving wildlife."